Baltimore Police Department

Use of Force Incidents

Officers must immediately report any use of force incident, and all incidents undergo a thorough review process to ensure that the force used was reasonable, necessary, and proportional. Visit the BPD website to read about how use of force is reported, tracked and investigated.

The data on these pages is taken from incident reports in BPD's nine patrol districts. Details of past incidents may change over time based upon further investigation, administrative process, or when human or mechanical error is discovered and corrected. Please contact BPD if you have any questions.

Table of Contents

Use of Force Incidents by Month

The current month shows incidents to date, so will not be a complete count until the month ends.

Use of Force by Type of Force

Reported use of force includes any incident where an officer used physical force to overcome resistance by an individual and gain control, where there was an injury or allegation of injury, or where an officer made certain threats of force. More information about the various levels of uses of force are available on the BPD website.

Use of Force Incidents by Assignment

Baltimore Police Department tracks where use of force incidents occur within its nine patrol districts, as well as several other assignments that have specific functions related to investigations, enforcement, and training.

Officer Demographics

Baltimore City is home to more than 621,000 people and is served by the nation’s 8th largest police department. Baltimore Police Department has almost 2,600 sworn officers.

Use of Force Incidents by Officer and Resident Race

This chart shows the races or ethnicities of the officers and residents involved in use of force incidents over the past 12 months. Bold numbers show total percentages across all incidents; numbers where rows and columns meet represent incidents where officers and residents in those demographics were involved in the same incident.